Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln
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Margaret de Quincy, 2nd Countess of Lincoln suo jure
(c. 1206 – March 1266) was a wealthy English noblewoman and heiress having inherited in her own right the Earldom of Lincoln and honours of Bolingbroke from her mother Hawise of Chester, received a dower from the estates of her first husband, and acquired a dower third
from the extensive earldom of Pembroke following the death of her second husband, Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke
. Her first husband was John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln
, by whom she had two children. He was created 2nd Earl of Lincoln by right of his marriage to Margaret. Margaret has been described as "one of the two towering female figures of the mid-13th century".
Her paternal grandfather, Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
was one of the 25 sureties of the Magna Carta
; as a result he was excommunicated by the Church in December 1215. Two years later her father died after having been accidentally poisoned through medicine prepared by a Cisterian monk.
were formally invested by King Henry III
as Countess and Earl of Lincoln. In April 1231 her maternal uncle Ranulf de Blondeville, 1st Earl of Lincoln had made an inter vivos gift, after receiving dispensation from the crown, of the Earldom of Lincoln to her mother Hawise. Her uncle granted her mother the title by a formal charter under his seal which was confirmed by King Henry III
. Her mother was formally invested as suo jure 1st Countess of Lincoln on 27 October 1232 the day after her uncle's death. Likewise her mother Hawise of Chester received permission from King Henry III
to grant the Earldom of Lincoln jointly to Margaret and her husband John, and less than a month later a second formal investiture took place, but this time for Margaret and her husband John de Lacy. Margaret became 2nd Countess of Lincoln suo jure (in her own right) and John de Lacy became 2nd Earl of Lincoln by right of his wife. (John de Lacy is mistakenly called the 1st Earl of Lincoln in many references.)
In 1238, Margaret and her husband paid King Henry the large sum of 5,000 pounds to obtain his agreement to the marriage of their daughter Maud to Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 2nd Earl of Gloucester.
On 22 July 1240 her first husband John de Lacy died. Although he was nominally succeeded by their only son Edmund de Lacy
(c.1227-1258) for titles and lands that included Baron of Pontefract, Baron of Halton, and Constable of Chester, Margaret at first controlled the estates in lieu of her son who was still in his minority and being brought up at the court of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence
. Edmund was allowed to succeed to his titles and estates at the age of 18. Edmund was also Margaret's heir to the Earldom of Lincoln and also her other extensive estates that included the third of the Earldom of Pembroke that she had inherited from her second husband in 1845. Edmund was never able to become Earl of Lincoln, however, as he predeceased his mother by eight years.
As the widowed Countess of Lincoln suo jure, Margaret was brought into contact with some of the most important people in the county of Lincolnshire
. Among these included Robert Grosseteste
, Bishop of Lincoln
, the most significant intellectual in England at the time who recognised Margaret's position as Countess of Lincoln to be legitimate and important, and he viewed Margaret as both patron and peer. He dedicated Les Reules Seynt Robert, his treatise on estate and household management, to her.
She married secondly on 6 January 1242, Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke, Lord of Striguil, Lord of Leinster, Earl Marshal of England, one of the ten children of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke. This marriage, like those of his four brothers, did not produce any children; therefore when he died at Goodrich Castle
on 24 November 1245, Margaret inherited a third of the Earldom of Pembroke as well as the properties and lordship of Kildare
. Her dower third outweighed any of the individual holdings of the 13 different co-heirs of the five Marshal sisters which meant she would end up controlling more of the earldom of Pembroke and lordship of Leinster
than any of the other co-heirs; this brought her into direct conflict with her own daughter, Maud whose husband was by virtue of his mother Isabel Marshal
one of the co-heirs of the Pembroke earldom. As a result of her quarrels with her daughter, Margaret preferred her grandson Henry de Lacy
who would became the 3rd Earl of Lincoln on reaching majority (21) in 1272. She and her Italian daughter-in-law Alasia of Saluzzo shared in the wardship of Henry who was Margaret's heir, and the relationship between the two women appeared to have been cordial.
Margaret died in March 1266 at Hampstead
. Her death was recorded in the Annals of Worcester and in the Annals of Winchester. She was buried in the Church of the Hospitallers in Clerkenwell
.
Margaret was described as "one of the two towering female figures of the mid-13th century"; the other being Ela, Countess of Salisbury
.
Suo jure
Suo jure is a Latin phrase meaning "in her [or his] own right".It is commonly encountered in the context of titles of nobility, especially in cases where a wife may hold a title in her own right rather than through her marriage....
(c. 1206 – March 1266) was a wealthy English noblewoman and heiress having inherited in her own right the Earldom of Lincoln and honours of Bolingbroke from her mother Hawise of Chester, received a dower from the estates of her first husband, and acquired a dower third
Dower
Dower or morning gift was a provision accorded by law to a wife for her support in the event that she should survive her husband...
from the extensive earldom of Pembroke following the death of her second husband, Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke was the fourth son of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke who succeeded his childless brother Gilbert as the 5th Earl of Pembroke and Earl Marshal of England in 1242 a year after the latter's death...
. Her first husband was John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln
John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln
John de Lacy was the 2nd Earl of Lincoln, of the fourth creation.-Background:He was the eldest son and heir of Roger de Lacy and his wife, Maud or Matilda de Clere .-Public life:...
, by whom she had two children. He was created 2nd Earl of Lincoln by right of his marriage to Margaret. Margaret has been described as "one of the two towering female figures of the mid-13th century".
Family
Margaret was born in about 1206, the daughter and only child of Robert de Quincy and Hawise of Chester, herself the co-heiress of her uncle Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester. Hawise became suo jure Countess of Chester in April 1231 when her brother resigned the title in her favour.Her paternal grandfather, Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester was one of the leaders of the baronial rebellion against King John of England, and a major figure in both Scotland and England in the decades around the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.Saer de Quincy's immediate background was in the Scottish...
was one of the 25 sureties of the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
; as a result he was excommunicated by the Church in December 1215. Two years later her father died after having been accidentally poisoned through medicine prepared by a Cisterian monk.
Life
On 23 November 1232, Margaret and her husband John de Lacy, Baron of PontefractJohn de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln
John de Lacy was the 2nd Earl of Lincoln, of the fourth creation.-Background:He was the eldest son and heir of Roger de Lacy and his wife, Maud or Matilda de Clere .-Public life:...
were formally invested by King Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
as Countess and Earl of Lincoln. In April 1231 her maternal uncle Ranulf de Blondeville, 1st Earl of Lincoln had made an inter vivos gift, after receiving dispensation from the crown, of the Earldom of Lincoln to her mother Hawise. Her uncle granted her mother the title by a formal charter under his seal which was confirmed by King Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
. Her mother was formally invested as suo jure 1st Countess of Lincoln on 27 October 1232 the day after her uncle's death. Likewise her mother Hawise of Chester received permission from King Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
to grant the Earldom of Lincoln jointly to Margaret and her husband John, and less than a month later a second formal investiture took place, but this time for Margaret and her husband John de Lacy. Margaret became 2nd Countess of Lincoln suo jure (in her own right) and John de Lacy became 2nd Earl of Lincoln by right of his wife. (John de Lacy is mistakenly called the 1st Earl of Lincoln in many references.)
In 1238, Margaret and her husband paid King Henry the large sum of 5,000 pounds to obtain his agreement to the marriage of their daughter Maud to Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 2nd Earl of Gloucester.
On 22 July 1240 her first husband John de Lacy died. Although he was nominally succeeded by their only son Edmund de Lacy
Edmund de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract
Edmund de Lacy was the son of John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln. When his father died in 1240 he inherited his father's titles and lands which included Baron of Pontefract, Baron of Halton, Lord of Bowland, and Constable of Chester. As he was a minor his inheritance was held by him in wardship by...
(c.1227-1258) for titles and lands that included Baron of Pontefract, Baron of Halton, and Constable of Chester, Margaret at first controlled the estates in lieu of her son who was still in his minority and being brought up at the court of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Henry III of England from 1236 until his death in 1272....
. Edmund was allowed to succeed to his titles and estates at the age of 18. Edmund was also Margaret's heir to the Earldom of Lincoln and also her other extensive estates that included the third of the Earldom of Pembroke that she had inherited from her second husband in 1845. Edmund was never able to become Earl of Lincoln, however, as he predeceased his mother by eight years.
As the widowed Countess of Lincoln suo jure, Margaret was brought into contact with some of the most important people in the county of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. Among these included Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
, Bishop of Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
, the most significant intellectual in England at the time who recognised Margaret's position as Countess of Lincoln to be legitimate and important, and he viewed Margaret as both patron and peer. He dedicated Les Reules Seynt Robert, his treatise on estate and household management, to her.
Marriages and issue
Sometime before 21 June 1221, Margaret married as his second wife, her first husband John de Lacy of Pontefract. The purpose of the alliance was to bring the rich Lincoln and Bolingbroke inheritance of her mother to the de Lacy family. John's first marriage to Alice de l'Aigle had not produced issue; although John and Margaret together had two children:- Maud de LacyMaud de LacyMaud de Lacy, , was an English noblewoman, being the eldest child of John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln, and the wife of Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester....
(25 January 1223- 1287/10 March 1289), married in 1238 Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of HertfordRichard de Clare, 6th Earl of HertfordRichard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester was son of Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and Isabel Marshal. On his father's death, when he became Earl of Gloucester , he was entrusted first to the guardianship of Hubert de Burgh. On Hubert's fall, his guardianship was...
, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, by whom she had seven children. - Edmund de Lacy, Baron of PontefractEdmund de Lacy, Baron of PontefractEdmund de Lacy was the son of John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln. When his father died in 1240 he inherited his father's titles and lands which included Baron of Pontefract, Baron of Halton, Lord of Bowland, and Constable of Chester. As he was a minor his inheritance was held by him in wardship by...
(died 2 June 1258), married in 1247 Alasia of Saluzzo, daughter of Manfredo III of Saluzzo, by whom he had three children, including Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of LincolnHenry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of LincolnHenry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln was a confidant of Edward I of England.In 1272 on reaching the age of majority he became Earl of Lincoln...
.
She married secondly on 6 January 1242, Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke, Lord of Striguil, Lord of Leinster, Earl Marshal of England, one of the ten children of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , also called William the Marshal , was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton...
and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke. This marriage, like those of his four brothers, did not produce any children; therefore when he died at Goodrich Castle
Goodrich Castle
Goodrich Castle is a now ruinous Norman medieval castle situated to the north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye...
on 24 November 1245, Margaret inherited a third of the Earldom of Pembroke as well as the properties and lordship of Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
. Her dower third outweighed any of the individual holdings of the 13 different co-heirs of the five Marshal sisters which meant she would end up controlling more of the earldom of Pembroke and lordship of Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
than any of the other co-heirs; this brought her into direct conflict with her own daughter, Maud whose husband was by virtue of his mother Isabel Marshal
Isabel Marshal
Isabel Marshal was a medieval English countess. She was the wife of both Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and 1st Earl of Gloucester and Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall...
one of the co-heirs of the Pembroke earldom. As a result of her quarrels with her daughter, Margaret preferred her grandson Henry de Lacy
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln was a confidant of Edward I of England.In 1272 on reaching the age of majority he became Earl of Lincoln...
who would became the 3rd Earl of Lincoln on reaching majority (21) in 1272. She and her Italian daughter-in-law Alasia of Saluzzo shared in the wardship of Henry who was Margaret's heir, and the relationship between the two women appeared to have been cordial.
Death and legacy
Margaret was a careful overseer of her property and tenants, and gracious in her dealings with her son's children, neighbours and tenants. She received two papal dispensations in 1251, the first to erect a portable altar; the other so that she could hear mass in the Cisterian monastery.Margaret died in March 1266 at Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
. Her death was recorded in the Annals of Worcester and in the Annals of Winchester. She was buried in the Church of the Hospitallers in Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell Priory
Clerkenwell Priory was a priory of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, located in Clerkenwell, London. Run according to the Augustinian rule, it was the residence of the Hospitallers' Grand Prior in England, and was thus their English...
.
Margaret was described as "one of the two towering female figures of the mid-13th century"; the other being Ela, Countess of Salisbury
Ela, Countess of Salisbury
Ela of Salisbury, 3rd Countess of Salisbury was a wealthy English heiress and the suo jure Countess of Salisbury, having succeeded to the title in 1196 upon the death of her father, William FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Salisbury...
.